NEW: Dem Gubernatorial Candidate’s Cheating Scandal Widens As Polling Lead Evaporates

By Cullen McCue

The cheating scandal surrounding U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) and her time at the U.S. Naval Academy has widened after her husband, Jason, also appears to have been implicated, according to documents reviewed by the New York Post.

Last week, a bombshell report from the New Jersey Globe revealed that Sherrill was barred from walking with her class at the U.S. Naval Academy in 1994 due to her implication in a sweeping cheating scandal that implicated more than 130 midshipmen. A copy of the commencement program from May 25, 1994, which was obtained by the outlet, did not include Sherrill’s name.

The congresswoman told The Globe that she was barred from the ceremony after failing to report classmates who had been involved in the scandal. “I didn’t turn in some of my classmates, so I didn’t walk, but graduated and was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy, serving for nearly ten years with the highest level of distinction and honor,” Sherrill said.

However, Sherrill’s campaign rejected a request for a public inspection of any disciplinary records dating back to her time at the academy. The congresswoman’s alleged involvement in the scandal has become a central point of the closely watched race, as she has routinely made her military service a central theme of her campaign.